Buying and choosing
Fresh truffle, sauce or flavouring: what are you buying?
A 100 g jar containing 3% truffle provides 3 g of truffle. That changes the comparison with a fresh piece, even when both products feature truffles on their packaging.
Written by the La Truffe française teamUpdated on
Updated
The topic guide : Buying and choosing
Turn the jar around
Start with the ingredients. Note the species, truffle percentage and any flavouring. The French order of 19 March 2015 identifies black or Périgord truffle as Tuber melanosporum and summer truffle as Tuber aestivum. Those names refer to different species.
When comparing two jars, also note the net weight. A smaller, more concentrated jar can contain more truffle than a larger jar with a lower percentage. The percentage alone does not tell you how much you are buying.
Convert the percentage into grams
Take two hypothetical labels. Jar A weighs 100 g and contains 3% truffle: 100 × 3 ÷ 100 = 3 g. Jar B weighs 180 g at 2%, giving 3.6 g. The second contains more truffle overall, but less in a spoonful of the same weight.
This calculation measures ingredient weight, not aroma or how good the preparation tastes. Comparing flavour requires tasting the products; these examples are not a brand test.
Check the flavouring too
France’s DGCCRF notes that some oils referring to truffles contain only added flavourings. It also explains that a flavouring is not necessarily extracted from truffles. A flavouring declaration therefore cannot establish a truffle weight.
A product can contain both truffle and flavouring. Read the two declarations separately. If the online description is unclear, ask for a photograph of the ingredients before ordering.
The House choice: fresh truffles without added flavouring
The House offers fresh truffles harvested entirely in France, without added flavouring. Their aroma comes from the truffle itself: no added flavouring does not mean no natural aroma. This choice concerns our fresh truffles.
When buying, ask for the species, the batch’s harvest origin and the quantity your recipe needs. The offer distinguishes our own harvest from a partner grower’s batch and states the harvest information actually known. Availability, handover and price are confirmed by quotation.
Choose for the dish you are making
For slices at serving, choose a fresh truffle in the weight your recipe needs. A truffled sauce also brings its other ingredients: the percentage tells you its truffle content, but does not make it a gram-for-gram substitute in the dish. Read the recipe and label together before choosing.
Sources and references
Our editorial approach
La Truffe française is responsible for these guides. Information about our offer comes from the House; technical resources cited in each article are identified separately.